Effect of Feeding Time on Rumen Microbial Protein Synthesis in Cattle Fed with Sugarcane Tops as Staple Roughage

A survey followed by in vitro and in vivo experiments were carried out to enhance rumen microbial protein synthesis in low milk yielding cattle under sugarcane tops based feeding system without altering the quantity of forage / feed ingredients. The survey revealed that majority of farmers fed the sugarcane tops twice daily during morning and evening and supplemented with groundnut cake at forenoon and evening along with de-oiled rice bran in drinking water. The half time (t1/2) of organic matter and nitrogen determined by in vitro for sugarcane tops were 29 2 and 40 6 hour, respectively. The respective t1/2 time of organic matter and nitrogen for the commonly fed supplemental feeds viz., groundnut cake and de-oiled rice bran were 7 1 and 9 1 and 8 0 and 7 1 hour, respectively. Altering the feeding strategy based on t1/2 value of organic matter and nitrogen sources did not increased the rumen microbial protein yield by in vitro / in vivo experiments. Hence, it was recommended to adopt farmers feeding strategy in sugarcane tops based feeding system.